


Keepers of the Sun

by Karkstrek



Series: Ixalan AU [1]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Dinosaurs, Ixalan Au but not really, Ixalan!Taeyong, M/M, MTG AU but not really, Vampire!Jaehyun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-12
Updated: 2017-11-12
Packaged: 2019-02-01 06:12:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12698997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Karkstrek/pseuds/Karkstrek
Summary: Yoonoh has never believed in luck, until that moment.He's an idiot, for trusting Youngho with something like this.But he's lucky.A lucky idiot.





	Keepers of the Sun

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, I really, really liked the new MGT maze, however I don't know a lot about MTG, in fact, I stopped playing a really long time ago so, there might be lot's of mistakes and all that. I'm tagging it as MGT because it's based on it, it's not following the canon at all, aside from feathery dinosaurs, and pretty merkfolk people, and obviously some names, ugh, however, don't expect a lot from this. I just needed JaeYong and dinosaurs together. 
> 
> I'm tagging it as complete because I don't know if I should make a multi chaptered story, or a collection of one-shots. 
> 
> Aaaaaaand, I know I have a story to update -I have like 300 words written down, bc college- but I'm using this as a distraction from tests, homework and all the people that get on my nerves in college, ugh, I hate my classmates (?). But whatevs, I hope you enjoy this uvu.

****He should've known better. As a matter of fact, he knew that this was a really bad idea, the worst he's ever had since that time he got pranked by Yuta, ate some garlic and almost died with the asshole laughing his guts out.

 

The point is, he's an idiot.

 

A lucky idiot at last.

 

The ship he was traveling in got hit by some rocks right before they made it to the _fucking_ shore, a few meter, thank you very much. And it is not his fault that they crashed, in fact, it was Youngho’s just because the asshole got distracted by some merman passing by, which is ridiculous, they're vampires, for fucks sake. They don't say things like: _hello, handsome. Wanna see something slicker?_ One, because that's cheesy as fuck, and two, because they don't do flirting unless is to have a bite, a bite that would end in -most certainly- a death, and he knows that Youngho knows this, they don't forge bonds with other species, no matter how pretty and beautiful and smart and _sexy_ they might be, it's a no, no, an unspoken rule between them that has saved them multiple times before.

 

And. Fucking. Youngho. Had. To. Break. It.

 

The point is… it's almost -judging by how the sun's setting- almost 7pm, which is nice, he won't get burned while looking for his asshole captain and the rest of the crew, but whatever that’s not the point. The point it’s, this island they are, _he_ is lost in, is really weird, and he’s been in that one where everything was shiny and made of minerals, even the creatures there, but, _again_ , that’s not the point. Nope.

 

The island, the place where he’s currently sitting it’s weird in all aspects. First of all, the water looks agonizingly clean, the cleanest water he’s ever seen, he can even see the plants, shells, fishes -with multicolored scales that shine every time the sun hits them- and even the smallest of the pearls in there and he doesn’t doubt there’s merkfolk lurking in the bushes or even the water, one never knows how to locate that people, they’re sneakier than them.

 

Second, the sun burns brighter, it’s rays make his skin burn, itchy and the feeling that he’s melting isn’t nice at all. He’s heard things about this island, right before they left Hansol told them lots of stories about here, such as why their kind isn’t welcomed here -it’s obvious really, sun and vampires don’t match at all- that people here was weird looking, merfolk lurking every corner -whenever there was water- it’s creepy and kind of gets on his nerves. Hansol also told them about the natives here, that they share bonds so deep it might be something akin to love, with animals that some might think extinct. He also told him, once everyone left, to be really careful with the Sun Avatar and their keeper. Yoonoh remember Hansol’s face when he asked him what did he mean with that, just to have Hansol touching his shoulder like a friend would do and telling him, in few words, that it was the terrane form of the sun itself. Something like a God among all _“By all means, Yoonoh, you should never approach them, never. No unless you want to die the ugliest and most painful of deaths”_.

 

And third, there’s this thing, creeping in the back of his neck and his spine that tells him that something’s really, really wrong with this place. He shakes his head trying to get rid of that kind of thoughts as he really needs to find the crew before dawn. He shakes the dust from his jacket and his pants before choosing the path towards the beach, where most certainly there might be parts of the ship and maybe even a crewmate.

 

The path is extense, larger than he thought, full of branches and weird looking trees with gigantic leafs. He can sense creatures right at the top, in some bushes and even behind him, but he ignores it, ignores the chirping and growling that comes from some places and keeps walking, faster than before, towards the beach.

 

He gasps, the sky's so clear, so full of stars and clean of the pollution he knows. It’s too much for him, as a _creature of the night”_ he’s learned to appreciate things like this, instead of Dawns, he waits for the Dusk, where he can appreciate the exact moment where the sun starts to leave and gives space to the moon, to bathe him, _their_ kind with it’s silvery rays. He thinks that that is how it might feel to watch the Dawn. He’s a born vampire, he hasn’t had the luxury Youngho, and even Yuta had when they were humans. He knows nothing about the sun, about how it might warm the skin instead of burning it, the power the sun might emit once it’s at it’s full, he doesn’t know, but he wonder, oh he wonders how it might feel, the soft touch of something warming his insides, making him feel _alive…_

 

He kneels in the sand, looking for prints or something that might lead him to his lost crewmates -he might be the lost one. he found no such thing as that, instead, he finds a sword and some supplies, a knife, clothes, a pile of soaked sheets and a backpack. Gathering all in the backpack -excepting the sheets- he starts walking along the beach, looking for whatever might guide him to his people.

 

As he’s inspecting a shell he sees smoke coming from the trees at his right, _fuck_ it might be a fire, his mates or the natives, thinking **fuck it all** he goes there. Trespassing the trees it’s a lot easier now that he has the sword so he arrives fast to his destination.

 

There’s a bonfire, and people, _native people_ eating and sharing, laughing and talking. They’re young, judging from their faces, no more than eighteen human years. They wear silver and feathers as armor, fabric so smooth looking and colorful adorning the parts the armor doesn’t cover. Yoonoh’s sure he’s never seen something like this before. Once he gets out of the initial reverie, he picks a sound, a steady breathing and a peaceful heartbeating in one of the corners of the bonfire. He decides to ignore it, too invested in the natives to pay attention to anything else. That is, until one of the native boys paths something feathery on his right, Yoonoh can only see feathers, blue, green and yellow feathers that cover a weird looking blue rock.

 

It isn’t a rock, nope, no sir, that certainly is not a rock. Rocks, for starters, don’t have knife-like teeth nor they have feathers under their chin -or a chin- and he’s certain that they don’t sniff people out.

 

One of the boys shakes a piece of meat in front of the big- _the biggest_ maw he’s ever seen, for the _thing_ to eat it, and the fucking thing purrs, delighted because of the -apparently- treat.

 

The kids laugh once the _thing_ closes its bright cat-like golden eyes, going back to, apparently, sleep.

 

If Yoonoh still had a heart, he’s sure it would be beating non-stop. He clutches his shirt, exhaling heavily. _That’s dangerous._  

 

And just as he’s ready to step back, return from the path he came from. He steps on a little branch that cracks loudly under his left boot. It’s not even a second -and hell, he’s one of the fastests back home- but the _thing_ is even faster than himself, in the blink of an eye he’s getting pinned down the soil by a really big foot while his nose -and his face- gets hit by the horrible smell of meat, blood and other decomposing things.

 

He tries to escape from the intense hold just to have the _thing_ growling on his ear. He then hears footsteps coming his way, voices discussing something in a language he’s never heard before.

 

One of them pokes him of the ribs, the one with the blue hair and tells something to the redhead beside him, said kid kneels in front of him, robes and armor whistling as he does so, Yoonoh watches how the kid tells something to the thing above him before manhandling Yoonoh’s mouth, forcing him to open his mouth a bit, enough to show his sharp fangs. The rest of the kids gasp behind the redhead before mumbling fast words to each other, the kid, the one with the red hair continues watching his fangs before turning his attention towards the rest of the kids, Yoonoh can hear him shouting something before returning his attention to him, one of the kids runs towards the bonfire and returns with some kind or rope.

 

_Oh shit._

 

So, he’s kind of mounting the weird animal that the kids keep calling _Motlaloani_ , his hands are tied on his back, he can’t touch the animal but he still can appreciate how the feathers on its neck and back shine under the moonlight, he wonders if they’ll be as soft as they look, he wonders about where they’re taking him to. He isn’t expecting anything nice, but if the kid recognized his kind, then he might as well be kind enough to give him shelter for the night before they decide about his whereabouts.

 

The trees and bunches seem to grow with every step they take, the path becomes dense with roots limiting their walk. He knows for a fact that he might already fall if he was walking by himself, instead, the animal walks above them as if it’s mosaic while the kids make little jumps from time to time to avoid high roots. The torch they have hasn’t extinguished, which is good, he can see clearly everything now which is an advantage and a disadvantage at the same time, he gets to see more clearly the details, the little bugs that illuminate some of the leafs, the colorful flowers on some trees, the weird looking trees on his sides but most importantly he gets to see the sharp talon on both of the animal’s feet. _Fuck_ , that thing’s an innate killer, he wonders if _Motlaloani_ is the word for killer.

 

They keep walking for a few minutes before they arrive to a river, the animal screeches while one of the kids laughs, another takes the reins and starts pulling the animal -and Yoonoh- through the river, it’s not really deep, as Yoonoh can see, the water covers the kids waist and part of Yoonoh’s feet. They walk towards a waterfall, the kid, the one with the red hair smiles to Yoonoh before stepping inside, disappearing. The rest of the kids do the same before it’s his turn, the kid that stayed with the animal -and him- mutters some words and gives a little peck to what Yoonoh supposes it’s the animal’s forehead before pulling lightly, the animal nuzzles the kid’s neck before walking towards the waterfall.

 

Yoonoh is soaked, he hates it. The kids are laughing and doing every kind of silly thing inside the enormous cavern. Yoonoh’s never been inside one, not even in his natal home. And he’s actually amazed, the cavern looks _weirdly clean_ , there’s something about it’s walls that gives him a sense of peace, he’s so distracted by the patterns in the walls and the roof, the draws that caught his gaze and the gold and silver that covers some of the columns in there, more than a cavern it looks like a hall. He doesn’t realize that the animal is actually _swimming_ as do the kids, until his waist feels kind of damp. The torch died long ago, and once realization dawns on him, Yoonoh wonders how the cavern-hall is lighted, that is until he looks at the water under them. There’s this mighty aqua glow in the water, so Yoonoh takes a look at it, he gasps, there’s thousands, millions of little fish and other marine creatures glowing, some blue, some green but most of them glowing, he can see jellyfishes, bigger than the ones he’s used to, crabs with pincers covered in glowing rocks and some more mollusks and other creatures. He realizes something, they don’t have feathers like the one he’s mounting has. Nope, they’re all slick and sticky looking, however, the thing he’s mounting has light blue scales as do the fishes swimming under his feet. He wonders what these creatures are.

 

The creatures seem to become less and less once they arrive to some kind of stairs, one of the kids helps him getting of the animal while it shakes the water out of himself. The one with the blue hair says something before giving him a smile.

 

They continue walking.

 

The hall ends in a curtain, the kids remove it to let the animal and Yoonoh step inside, just to be greeted by a desert city, he ignores the small brick houses at his sides, instead he focuses in the gigantic pyramid like building, there, in front of all the other houses, taller than all of them. Yoonoh is _excited_. He doesn’t know why, he just knows that this is really magnificent.

 

However, he’s not free to explore the rest of the buildings nor the enormous pyramid, he’s pushed towards an even more desert part of the city, there’s another pyramid like building, smaller and not as attractive as the other one. The red hair kid enters the building before coming back with an adult…

Clad in armor and weapons, Yoonoh can see the wood stake -badly- hidden in one of the sleeves.

 

The guy asks him something, to which Yoonoh shakes his head. He doesn’t understand anything. The bunny looking adult makes a disgusted sound before shushing the kids out of the place, the animal growls low to which the adult responds with some angry words making the animal huff, the kids bow lowly before taking the animal with them, leaving Yoonoh and the bunny-looking adult there, analyzing each other. Yoonoh can beat him easily, he doesn’t look that strong nor that smart, however, his hands are tied and his sword’s lost with his backpack and supplies. Luck isn’t on his side right here, damn those kids and his well done knots.

 

The guy forces him inside before shoving him down a mattress, surrounded by lots of cushions and pillows. The guy sits in front of him, stares at him long and hard before sighing.

 

“You don’t speak Ixalan” he states. And Yoonoh stares, amazed, he talks his language, which is good, he can explain why he’s there, why this all is a misunderstanding. Just as he’s ready to explain himself, the guy holds a hand up and continues talking “I don’t care about your intentions or why you’re here, one of our patrols found you outside, not so far from here, which represents a potential danger to the city and, as the Keeper’s guard, I can’t let that happen. So, you’re staying here, until the Keeper decides what to do with you. People of your kind are never good news”

 

“I…”

 

“Save it, you’re not leaving until, as I said, the Keeper decides what to do with you” the guy laughs “you might even become a snack to our great Tilonalli. What an honor!”

 

Yoonoh shudders as he hears the maniac laugh the other lets out.

 

* * *

 

 

Turns out, the guard, which name’s Doyoung doesn’t sleep once he’s in “guard mode” he kept an eye on Yoonoh the whole night and once the smallest of the sun rays breaks through the curtains of which Yoonoh supposes are windows, he stands up, brushes his teeth and changes his clothes for something less armory. He then takes something from a bowl, a fruit, green and full of needles, he peels it before eating it out, offering a piece to Yoonoh.

 

He declines it.

 

“Wow, rude”

 

He doesn’t say anything, instead observes the guard’s home. It’s simple, kind of a mess if the clothes and fabric covering most of the floor is something to go by.

 

Once the guard’s finished he leads Yoonoh towards the exit. Not before shoving a red sheet above his head.

 

“We’re not barbarians, you know. That, and you need to be intact before the Keeper inspects you, but before that, you’re helping feeding the new hatchlings”

 

“What are hatchling” he asks, curiosity getting the best of him.

 

“You’ll see”

 

Yoonoh can’t understand how the guard took him to the nest without people noticing him, he’s sure they walked along the center of the city, he heard people talking in that strange language _Ixalan._ However, the nests are on a cavern looking building, decorated with feathers and _gold_ , so much gold, the floors even covered in gold.

 

That’s when he remembers why they came here.

 

Youngho would kill to be here, the City made of Gold, El Dorado, more commonly known. _Fuck_ , this, this is it, he needs to escape and find his crewmates, tell them about this, take everything they can and finally, _finally return home._ Doyoung stares at him.

 

“I knew it”

 

“Uh”

 

“You’re here for the gold, those of your kind fear silver but love gold and whatever shiny mineral you can find. You’re so, superficial and obvious it hurts. But today’s your lucky day, the Keeper is going to decide your future and we can’t do anything about that. So, enjoy your time here, I suppose. Now, follow me” Doyoung pushes a bowl towards his hands -that are now in front of him, Doyoung’s pretty fast rearranging knots, as he can notice- before filling it with small pieces of meat and other meaty looking things, all raw and still covered in blood. If Yoonoh’s instinct doesn’t fail him, he dares say that it might even be warm. He doesn’t know if he’s amazed or disgusted “you’re helping me feed the runners hatchlings, they quiet a handful and the parents are on a mission. So, yay for you”

 

Yoono might think that this guy hates his job with all his might, that or that’s just how his personality is.

 

_Runners hatchling_ are little lizard-like animals, with colorful feathers covering most of their bodies, their backs, their feet, their hands and even part of their little heads. They look kind of comical, with bright big eyes ranging from brown to the goldest gold he’s ever seen. They eat the pieces of meat Doyoung and himself gives them, jumping really high to take it from their hands, they’re really athletic animals. As he’s inspecting them more thorough he notices that they have the same talon the animal from last night had.

  
“Do all of them have that” he asks Doyoung.

 

“Yeah, it gets deadlier and bigger once they reach adulthood. The feathers stay the same though” Yoonoh, remembering words from last night decides to ask Doyoung.

 

“What does Motlaloani means?” he says, all weird pronunciation and lisps. Doyoung stares at him, his face looking disgusted before sighing.

 

“That’s Ixalan for runner”

 

“Oh”

 

They finish eating the hatchlings in silence, with Doyoung gazing his way from time to time, making sure that he’s not looking for a way to harm the hatchlings or escaping. They clean their hands in a pot nearby. Doyoung shoves the red sheet on his -now- clean hands, motioning for him to cover himself in it.

 

“We’re leaving”  The process is the same, he doesn’t understand how Doyoung takes him towards the Keepers home. Yoonoh is starting to feel warm, really warm “here we are, we need to climb the stairs so you can present yourself before the Keeper” Yoonoh restrains himself from gasping, this it's the pyramid looking building he was _dying_ to explore last night and now that he’s in front of it, he can see that it is all made of gold -at least the parts that his limited vision allows him to see. He can feel Doyoung smirking at his side “just so you know, the heat is going to increase a lot, even more once we’re at the top. But, that wouldn’t be a problem for you, you can’t dehydrate after all”

 

He nods, unsure of what else to say.

 

And they start climbing, with Doyoung looking his way from time to time. Yoonoh’s unfazed by the heat, he should not feel it at all, but he does and it’s not unbearable as Doyoung made it look, actually it’s kind of nice. It’s in moments like this that he’s grateful of being a creature of the night, he doesn’t sweat which is really nice, even more with the way Doyoung keeps wiping his brow and forehead. A few moments later they’re finally at the top, with Doyoung trying to appease his breathing and calm his raging heart, once he’s done he motions for Yoonoh to follow him towards a big, red curtain, Yoonoh thinks it’s pretty, with the way a Sun embroidery fills more than half of the curtain, surrounded by more little suns all filled with frets and details of beasts and natives, all bowing towards the sun.

 

“You can take that off” and so he does.

 

He can see Doyoung walking inside the enormous hall-like room, there’s a pool in the center, and as he can see, there are statues of different kinds of animals resting on different supports and jars, filled with fancy looking flowers. The place is decorated with multiple and colorful rugs, equally decorated in gold with what Yoonoh supposes are stories. Since he was a kid he was attracted towards all these kind of thing, mythology, legends, the kind of stories human grandpas tell their grandchildren. There’s so much he wants to know about this place, about the people living here, but most importantly why all seems to have something to do with the Sun. He hears shouting, probably Doyoung and a loud yawning, followed by an even louder growl. He shivers, _another of those beasts?_ he wonders, hoping that it’ll be something similar to the one he mounted last night.

 

_It is not_.

 

Moments later Doyoung returns, followed by a pink haired man, whose only searing a simple red and white sheet as a robe. The man, as Yoonoh can see is still half sleep, one of his hands cover most of his face as he yawns. Yoonoh can’t have a proper look of the man and his features, instead, his attention is all on the creature behind them. He was wrong. _That_ is the biggest maw he’s ever seen, full of sharp teeth, teeth that Yoonoh is sure are his size. Its head it’s full of feathers, red as the dusk itself, even the horns on it’s forehead have little feathers surrounding it. Its body is also covered in orange and red feathers, showing the occasional white-gray scale, its feet have claws that Yoonoh is sure can crush the ship he came on, but what makes him shiver the most, are its eyes, gold and shiny and if Yoonoh knew how the sun looked like, he might dare and say that that creature, had the sun in its eyes. The creature might be the sun itself for its warm and the solemn way he stares back at Yoonoh makes him think in something divine.

 

“He’s the Keeper” Doyoung says, interrupting him and his staring towards the great beast.

 

“Hey” said keeper says, before yawning again.

 

“He’s the one that Hyuck and the kids brought last night”

 

“Hmm” the Keeper yawns again, clearly ignoring Doyoung and his explanation, the latter seems unfazed, instead he continues.

 

“He’s a vampire”

 

“I know”

 

And that’s when Yoonoh dares look at him. The Keeper, with the bluest eyes he’s ever seen, pink hair and rosy lips, skin so fair and yet kind of bronzed. It’s a weird contrast, but Yoonoh finds himself liking the person in front of him, that smiles tenderly at himself. If Yoonoh had a heart, a beating one at least, he knows for sure that it might be beating nonstop. The man in front of him is the embodiment of beauty and purity, suddenly he has this need to posses, to mawl and mark the person in front of him, to state his claim over him and let the other do the same with him, for Yoonoh is ready to devote himself to this god.

 

“I’m waiting outside, if you need something give me a call”

 

“Will do” And they’re alone, he doesn’t know when Doyoung finished explaining his situation to the Keeper, he doesn’t know either when the great best left the hall to go outside and roar, loud enough for all the population of the city to hear it, signaling the start of a new day. “I understand that you are a castaway” the Keeper starts, sitting in a large throne right in the middle of the hall, one of his legs cross over the other, making the robe slip the smallest bit, showing the creamy skin of one of his tights. Yoonoh feels himself getting thirsty.

 

“Yeah”

 

“I’m sorry about that” and they talk, about Yoonoh and his kind, his crew, and their occupations. Yoonoh’s never felt that confident with anyone else. The man keeps looking at him, and Yoonoh is sure that he’s already discovered the darkest of his secrets. He finds himself realizing that he doesn’t mind, there’s something about this man that makes him trust him. It’s almost scary. Moments later, to Yoonoh’s disappointment The Keeper stops talking and comes with an arrangement “I know I can’t make you stay here forever, not unwillingly at least and I can’t let you leave either, so, I’m making you stay, you can be treated as one of us by the people until I find a solution to your case, one that isn’t inconvenient for the both of us” he sighs, and Yoonoh frowns, he has a crew to look for just so they can return home, however, deep inside him, he’s pissed at himself for being kind of happy about the arrangements, he doesn’t understand why he feels like that, it can’t be because of a stupid crush on the man in front of him, that’s bullshit, he knows that it’s something deeper, might be his need to know more… everything about this city.

 

“It’s okay” he accepts.

 

The man gets up the throne and makes a motion for Yoonoh to follow him towards the exit. He puts a weird helmet, covered on dark blankets on his hands before taking the rope off.

 

“So you don’t get burned” he states.

 

“Thanks”

 

They go outside.

 

The Keeper stops suddenly, Yoonoh behind him stops as well waiting for whatever the other’s going to do or say. The pink haired man extends his arms and Yoonoh, _almost_ thinks he’s going to hug him -he ignores the disappointment settling on his gut.

 

“Welcome,that over there it’s Tilonalli, the sun, _our_ sun” he motions to the enormous beast at his side, he hadn’t noticed that the beast was there as well, doing a small bow before giving Yoonoh his full attention again “and this, my _dear_ blood drinking visitor, is Ixalan” he finishes with a smile.

 

And it’s then than Yoonoh realizes that this is the most beautiful creature he’s ever met. A person so bright it might as well be the sun itself, his eyes burn with the tears he can’t cry. This is too much for him. Is this really how being in front of the sun feels like?

 

The enormous beast looks at him with glowing eyes full of wisdom. Yoonoh wants to scream, not really sure of what else to do.

 

The beast. _Tilonalli,_ roars again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, ugh I hope you really enjoyed it, if you have any doubt you cand leave your questions in the comment section and I'll do my best to solve your doubts. 
> 
> I also forgot to mention that I'm going to use some Náhuatl words, don't worry they'll be translated in the form of Yoonoh asking their meaning. Either way, you can ask.


End file.
